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Title: Towards Ultra-High Resolution Models of Climate and Weather

Abstract

We present a speculative extrapolation of the performance aspects of an atmospheric general circulation model to ultra-high resolution and describe alternative technological paths to realize integration of such a model in the relatively near future. Due to a superlinear scaling of the computational burden dictated by stability criterion, the solution of the equations of motion dominate the calculation at ultra-high resolutions. From this extrapolation, it is estimated that a credible kilometer scale atmospheric model would require at least a sustained ten petaflop computer to provide scientifically useful climate simulations. Our design study portends an alternate strategy for practical power-efficient implementations of petaflop scale systems. Embedded processor technology could be exploited to tailor a custom machine designed to ultra-high climate model specifications at relatively affordable cost and power considerations. The major conceptual changes required by a kilometer scale climate model are certain to be difficult to implement. Although the hardware, software, and algorithms are all equally critical in conducting ultra-high climate resolution studies, it is likely that the necessary petaflop computing technology will be available in advance of a credible kilometer scale climate model.

Authors:
; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Director. Office of Science. Advanced ScientificComputing Research
OSTI Identifier:
929098
Report Number(s):
LBNL-60799
R&D Project: K11121; BnR: KJ0101030; TRN: US200812%%608
DOE Contract Number:  
DE-AC02-05CH11231
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
International Journal of High Performance ComputingApplications
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 22; Related Information: Journal Publication Date: 05/2008
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
42; ALGORITHMS; CLIMATE MODELS; CLIMATES; COMPUTERS; DESIGN; EQUATIONS OF MOTION; EXTRAPOLATION; GENERAL CIRCULATION MODELS; PERFORMANCE; RESOLUTION; SPECIFICATIONS; STABILITY; WEATHER

Citation Formats

Wehner, Michael, Oliker, Leonid, and Shalf, John. Towards Ultra-High Resolution Models of Climate and Weather. United States: N. p., 2007. Web.
Wehner, Michael, Oliker, Leonid, & Shalf, John. Towards Ultra-High Resolution Models of Climate and Weather. United States.
Wehner, Michael, Oliker, Leonid, and Shalf, John. 2007. "Towards Ultra-High Resolution Models of Climate and Weather". United States. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/929098.
@article{osti_929098,
title = {Towards Ultra-High Resolution Models of Climate and Weather},
author = {Wehner, Michael and Oliker, Leonid and Shalf, John},
abstractNote = {We present a speculative extrapolation of the performance aspects of an atmospheric general circulation model to ultra-high resolution and describe alternative technological paths to realize integration of such a model in the relatively near future. Due to a superlinear scaling of the computational burden dictated by stability criterion, the solution of the equations of motion dominate the calculation at ultra-high resolutions. From this extrapolation, it is estimated that a credible kilometer scale atmospheric model would require at least a sustained ten petaflop computer to provide scientifically useful climate simulations. Our design study portends an alternate strategy for practical power-efficient implementations of petaflop scale systems. Embedded processor technology could be exploited to tailor a custom machine designed to ultra-high climate model specifications at relatively affordable cost and power considerations. The major conceptual changes required by a kilometer scale climate model are certain to be difficult to implement. Although the hardware, software, and algorithms are all equally critical in conducting ultra-high climate resolution studies, it is likely that the necessary petaflop computing technology will be available in advance of a credible kilometer scale climate model.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/929098}, journal = {International Journal of High Performance ComputingApplications},
number = ,
volume = 22,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2007},
month = {Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2007}
}